Has anyone done an Antarctic cruise / trip?
Posted by MoblandJordan@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 20 comments
My better half has a big birthday next year and I’ve been thinking about taking him on an Antarctica / St George’s cruise. He’s the outdoorsy type and ex forces, and also obsessed with penguins so I know he’d love it.
I’m more worried about myself to be frank. For anyone who’s done it or if you know anyone who has, is it broadly survivable for an average person or is it like a training for Kilimanjaro type trip?
Lifestyleuranium@reddit
I recommend everyone should be careful with Antarpply expeditions, ( the boat MV Ushuaia). They cancelled my cruise 5 days before the cruise A25022026 when I was already in Ushuaia, they didn’t replace me ( although they said they would do it). I lost my trip, I lost the opportunity of my life and now after 16 times asking my 6990 usd back, and 65 days later, they are still holding my money.
This is the most unfair situation and the most stressful I have faced in my life.
Actually the defender of consumer in Ushuaia opened an official claim but I don’t trust them because they don’t do so much.
My biggest tip: NEVER BUY À CRUISE BY TRANSFER JUST TAKE ONE WHO ACCEPTS PAYMENTS BY CARD ( in this way if they cancel you will be able to take the money back)
But by no means you should take à cruise with Antarpply expeditions.
They are not a cruise company, they behave like criminals, they will not give you the money back as they should.
Lifestyleuranium@reddit
I recommend everyone should be careful with Antarpply expeditions, ( the boat MV Ushuaia). They cancelled my cruise 5 days before the cruise A25022026 when I was already in Ushuaia, they didn’t replace me ( although they said they would do it). I lost my trip, I lost the opportunity of my life and now after 16 times asking my 6990 usd back, and 65 days later, they are still holding my money.
This is the most unfair situation and the most stressful I have faced in my life.
Actually the defender of consumer in Ushuaia opened an official claim but I don’t trust them because they don’t do so much.
My biggest tip: NEVER BUY À CRUISE BY TRANSFER JUST TAKE ONE WHO ACCEPTS PAYMENTS BY CARD ( in this way if they cancel you will be able to take the money back)
But by no means you should take à cruise with Antarpply expeditions.
They are not a cruise company, they behave like criminals, they will not give you the money back as they should.
moon-bouquet@reddit
My sis in law did it at my Brothers behest and had a great time. She is not outdoorsy and only so-so on penguins but still said it was great!
RabbitRabbit77@reddit
So-so on penguins 🐧 Your SIL is a nutter 😂
Healthy_Pilot_6358@reddit
Penguins: 5/10 could be better, could be worse
Itchy_Feedback_7625@reddit
“So-so on penguins” 😂😂😂
Bagabeans@reddit
Not sure I've ever seen someone be described as 'so-so on penguins'.
doepfersdungeon@reddit
Ambivalent to an Arctic Fox
Odd-Paramedic-3826@reddit
i went to morcambe in february once it's probably the same experience
DaveBeBad@reddit
We once went to Morecambe in December… 🥶
But we’d set off from North Shields and people were swimming in the sea in bikinis and it was freezing!! Which would be a similar vibe
ams3000@reddit
Please don’t add to the Antarctic tourism. I highly recommend somewhere like Galapagos which can be done sustainably and is stunning and breathtaking and so rewarding.
EyeofAv8@reddit
No. But I’ll be in Patagonian next year. Planning to head to Ushuaia to see if I can get a last min cheap cruise on the off chance.
notcalledemma@reddit
If you do manage to, please do share the details!
logro6@reddit
Yes and it was incredible. Fitness/mobility-wise you need to be able to get on and off the zodiacs (like small ribs) both from the ship and on beaches/rocky ledges if you want to go on land. Some of the more luxury boats will have more staff on hand to help you (apparently anyway, I went for a "cheap" boat with a younger crowd). Once on land you can choose to do the whole hike or none of it. Even the full hikes are short, though they can be steep and icy.
If you can stretch to it, in terms of time and money, I would highly, highly recommend doing a longer trip including South Georgia (usually with the Falklands too). There is nowhere like it for wildlife. Feels like you are walking in a nature documentary.
172116@reddit
A decent chunk of the people who go on Antarctic cruises every year are very elderly - as long as you can transfer in and out of a small boat, you'll be fine. Your biggest risk is catching an infectious disease from other passengers, or tripping on the door sills.
Be aware that you want a small boat that can land passengers (the big ones can only look), and that if you actually want to see the Antarctic you'll need a minimum of 10-12 days - you ideally want something with more than a single day at the Antarctic peninsula in case of bad weather preventing landing. You should expect to pay around 1000 USD per person per day of cruise as a general rule of thumb. If you have the freedom to hang around ushuaia for a few weeks, you can apparently do it more cheaply, but I appreciate that's not common! It is one of the less useful pieces of advice I've ever been offered!
(Do make sure you buy good travel insurance, preferably shelling out for a policy that covers wars, as soon as you book, in case trump goes ahead with his plans to instigate the second Falklands war as punishment for us not supporting his war with Iran)
maelie@reddit
My dad did it. Probably not like most people's trips would be because it was a small group, bespoke thing, through a friend (hard to explain). The actual Antarctic bit was incredible. Multi day sea sickness each way not so much. Maybe that's because they had a smaller boat, I don't know. He wouldn't do it a second time, but is absolutely glad he did. Once in a lifetime I guess. He's very fit, but he was not young at the time. No specific training... although having said that he'd done an iron man etc not long before. But others in the group were not exceptionally fit and I don't think they had to undergo any training either.
Scared_Product5030@reddit
I’ve done it, easily top 5 experiences in my life so far. You really have to see it to believe kind of landscapes - coming in touching distance of a pod of humpbacks was incredible.
In terms of prep - it can be as physically taxing as you want it to be. The trip that I did was pretty much 2 “landings” each day onto different islands - sometimes with an added inflatable (zodiac) trip around islands/ amongst colossal icebergs.
From memory the only trip specific bits I needed to support was specialist travel insurance because you need a specific coverage for recovery/ evacuation (the travel company should be able to confirm) and you obviously need to pack essential warm/ wet gear.
If you want to push the boat out, I’d recommend travelling through Argentina (I did Chile, you could do Buenos Aires) and travel by road through Tierra Del Fuego. It’s basically Patagonia, stunning landscape.
Then give a day or two to explore Ushuaia, actually a very vibrant artsy / surfer kind of vibe that I wasn’t expecting.
RainbowReindeer@reddit
I did. It is very very survivable for an average person!
GlumAd9856@reddit
I watched some YouTube videos that give advice about this (Tips for Travellers is good).
You do need to have a bit of fitness to get the most out of the expeditions, but not climbing a mountain fit.
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